lanc artistic gift was

storm raging inside,

ician, had carried the same

om-made Amati, sat silent, a remi

' d follow her path, a

eir understanding of art, bu

ical dynasty, all sharp s

Coast shipping fortune, his fa

s influence in New Orleans wa

to help me "stab

would marry me, merging with the LeBlan

hours, their presence a con

ils over their ambition. This wa

eeks away. There, I w

andler, no

ur Garden District mansio

her' s violin escaping me, too sharp, t

reak, a mome

library, its doo

mooth and confid

ler' s, honey-

art student from a modest background, clinging

sy," Cade was saying. "Ava

t. I pressed cl

lled artistic secrets, your career will launc

gled. "A

songbird in a gilded cage. You, Daisy

cold and hard. B

ld, the one my father had bu

ren't saviors. T

The music thrashed inside m

pain, a new re

songbird. I wou

rt world, a family known for nurturing

ces of

e, was a recluse, they

came up. "Unstable," he' d scoffed. "Like calls

t I needed. Someone who understood t

at at my mother'

not of desperation

rtistic alliance

ther' s struggle, the suffocating cage my

ered, but as a power to be understood, perhaps even share

e most secure,

in the drawing-room

are coming this afternoon. Cade

l to Ethan Vance," I

? The recluse? The New York... oddity? Ar

sn' t seek to control or exploit them. That' s m

hless for a long moment. "

s already gone. M

ay on the polished mahogany

out control, about legacy, abou

ne by one. Cade' s.

, struck a match, and watched t

ed me, then a tremor, as

they arrived. C

. They walked in,

"Ava. We felt..

narrowed. "The connec

me, his gaze unre

demands, trying to renegotia

losing its usual smoothness. "More drama?

iled. They